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Dactylorhiza fuchsii

Common spotted orchid

Photographed Oxfordshire, 19 June 2003

Image number 190603cso13

The height of this orchid varies from 4 to 28 inches (15 to 70 cm) and the number of flowers per stem is very large. The labellum is typically 6 to 10 mm long and the species is characterised by the deeply tri-lobed labellum and the broad leaves which are usually spotted. The spots are at their best in May and they tend to fade as the leaves age. In Britain this orchid tends to hybridize readily with the Southern marsh orchid D. praetermissa, Northern marsh orchid D. purpurella and Heath spotted orchid D. maculata var ericitorum.  Although the Common spotted orchid is a marsh orchid it appears happy in many situations that other members of that genus cannot tolerate - dry chalk grassland, neutral meadows or damp alkaline fields or marshes, it is therefore associated many other species of orchid and plant.

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